Sunrise Radio…the changes continue

The UK’s leading Asian radio station Sunrise Radio has been in revamp mode over the past few weeks.

After it was revealed in the last set of RAJAR results that Sunrise had dropped 5,000 listeners (quarter up to July 2006), the station has been making sure that it is not beaten to the top by rival BBC Asian Network, which on the contrary has been performing exceptionally well.

In a surprise move, Sunrise Radio has removed all DJ pictures from its website. The reason behind the change is not known. The website is currently displaying ‘On Air’ images of random natural scenery.

Tony Patti who has been away for the past few weeks will be rejoining Kejal back on the breakfast show before jetting off to India in the coming weeks to broadcast from Mumbai.

According to insiders, staff have been informed about two new posts. The first being Production Manager and the other Operations Director.

There’s also talk of a Club Asia presenter negotiating a deal to join Sunrise Radio. However, talks between the two parties are still ongoing.

A weekday presenter has seemingly called it quits and is likely to be replaced by a new voice not heard before on the station. A popular weekend presenter has not been on air for a while now giving rise to questions to do whether the presenter has quit or been asked to leave. Also Sarita Sabharwal, a weekday presenter, has strangely enough, been given an additional morning slot on Saturdays for the time being, amid the younger lot of presenters.

How logical and well thought over these programming changes are and whether they prove to be beneficial for Sunrise in the long run, will become apparent when we see the next round of RAJAR figures.